Born in 1862 into an exclusive New York society against whose rigid codes of behavior she often rebelled, she lived to regret the passing of that stable if old-fashioned community and to appreciate the sense of personal identity its definitions provided. She became a prolific professional writer, author of more than forty published volumes, including novels, short stories (many of them tales of the supernatural), poetry, war reportage, travel writing, and books on gardens and house decoration. An expatriate in France for three decades before her death in 1937, she included among her many distinguished friends men as various as Henry James, Theodore Roosevelt, Kenneth Clark, and André Gide.The four novels in this Library of America volume show Wharton at the height of her powers as a social observer and critic, examining American and European lives with a vision rich in detail, satire, and tragedy. In all of them her strong and autobiographical impulse is disciplined by her writer’s craft and her unfailing regard for her audience.The House of Mirth (1905), Wharton’s tenth book and her first novel of contemporary life, was an immediate runaway bestseller, with 140,000 copies in print within three months of publication. The story of young Lily Bart and her tragic sojourn among the upper class of turn-of-the-century New York, it touches on the insidious effects of social convention and upon the sexual and financial aggression to which women of independent spirit were exposed.The Reef (1912) is the story of two couples whose marriage plans are upset by the revelation of a past affair between George Darrow (a mature bachelor) and Sophy Vener, who happens to be the fiancée of his future wife’s stepson. Henry James called the novel “a triumph of method,” and it shares the rich nuance of his own The Golden Bowl.The Custom of the Country (1913) is the amatory saga of Undine Spragg of Apex City—beautiful, spoiled, and ambitious—whose charms conquer New York and European society. Vulgar and voracious, she presides over a series of men, representing the old and new aristocracies of both continents, in a comedy drawn unmistakably from life.The Age of Innocence (1920) is set in the New York of Wharton’s youth, when the rules and taboos of her social “tribe” held as-yet unchallenged sway. A quasi-anthropological study of a remembered culture and its curious conventions, it tells the story of the Countess Olenska (formerly Ellen Mingott), refugee from a disastrous European marriage, and Newland Archer, heir to a tradition of respectability and family honor, as they struggle uneasily against their sexual attraction.

    Undset re-creates the historical backdrop in vivid detail, immersing readers in the day-to-day life, social conventions, and political undercurrents of the period. Her prose combines the sounds and style of Nordic ballads, European courtly poetry, and religious literature.But the story Undset tells is a modern one; it mirrors post-World War I political and religious anxieties, and introduces a heroine who has long captivated contemporary readers. Defying her parents and stubbornly pursuing her own happiness, Kristin emerges as a woman who not only loves with power and passion but intrepidly confronts her sexuality.

    But when the mysterious Countess Ellen Olenska returns to New York after a disastrous marriage, Archer falls deeply in love with her. Torn between duty and passion, Archer struggles to make a decision that will either courageously define his life—or mercilessly destroy it.

    Lucas, Lucia to her intimates, resides in the village of Riseholme, a pretty Elizabethan village in Worcestershire, where she vigorously guards her status as "Queen" despite occasional attempts from her subjects to overthrow her. Lucia’s dear friend Georgie Pillson both worships Lucia and occasionally works to subvert her power.

    The Marquis of Bolibar promises to deliver the town as well as settle his own score, and he sets in train an ingenious series of traps for the enemy.

    The material here is considered amongst his greatest. Not only do they give the astonishingly varied life of Gorky from childhood thru youth, they also provide a picture of one of the most crucial generations in Russian life & history--the late 19th & early 20th centuries. The autobiography begins at age five & ends with Gorky secure in his position as a leading Russian writer. From the beginning, the story is organized as a quest for knowledge & understanding, of oneself & the world one lives in. This quest brings him into contact with the harsh realities of life in late 19th century Russia--the life that was to constitute his 'university'. We follow as he turns from one job to another in an effort to make a living--rag picker, errand & stockboy, junior clerk, bird catcher, cabin boy on a Volga steamer, icon factory apprentice, baker, watchman & rail freight handler. We move with him in his life of wandering from one part of Russia to the next, &, in the course of the journey, we meet some of the most extraordinary characters in literature. The people that crowd the pages of his life history are as interesting as they are varied. Peasants, artisans, scholars, writers, teachers, policemen, government officials--they passed in & out of his strange, sad life, leaving each one of them a vivid imprint on his keen mind. Thru them he learned to build for himself a philosophy of life, & with the memory of them he painted for us those stark, vital pictures which make the unforgettable character of his book. Each character is sharply individualized, mountingly alive, fascinating. There's his grandmother with her strength, her idealism, her superstition, her sympathy. Herself a folk bard, she passed on to him the impulse to hearten others & a rich store of folk song & story. There's Smoury, the chef of the Volga steamer, whom Gorky was later to call one of his outstanding teachers. There's also Olga, the woman with whom Gorky had his 1st love affair; eccentric, irresponsible, flirtatious, but charming & kind. In his portrait of these & other fascinating characters, he's given his greatest--& one of the greatest life stories in literature.

    He met and fell for feisty Martha Ann only to discover she was claimed by the dangerous Tex McCall. He had to stand up to McCall in the only way the men of Wyoming knew!